White Noise
by Kiristo
Summary: Spencer's class gets to go on a field trip to a ski resort. Spencer wants to take the opportunity to film an abominable snowman movie. But of course, when your best friend is a ghost with rapidly developing, uncontrollable ghostly powers things don't always go as planned.
1. Chapter 1

Spencer stepped off the bus and listened to the snow crunch under his boots. A happy trill shot through him and he grinned at the picturesque view. It was like a winter wonderland. The huge, rustic wood and stone lodge glowed with warmth and hospitality amid the frigid landscape. It was nestled in an evergreen forest with a backdrop of majestic snow-covered mountains. A wrap-around deck hugged the lodge and hosted outdoor fire pits where people could sit and enjoy the view. The ski lifts sat a short distance away and Spencer watched as they carried people up the mountains.

"How cool is this field trip going to be?" Shanilla squealed as Spencer joined her and the other classmates to collect their luggage.

"Eh, I guess it's alright," Billy droned, floating above them, "Nothing like the lodges I used to go to in Aspen. Now those are fancy, let me tell ya-"

Spencer stopped listening as he yanked his, and Billys', bags from the bus' storage compartment. It wasn't like Billy really NEEDED anything, but the ghost liked to feel included. Billy also insisted on bringing a guitar, meaning Spencer had to lug two suitcases, a guitar case, and his camera bag. Hopefully, no one questioned why he had so much extra stuff. Or why one suitcase was bedazzled.

With their luggage in tow, the gang made their way to the lodge and bounded up the wooden steps. Spencer dropped his heavy bags once they were in. The lobby was huge! The ceiling went all the way to the top of the lodge so you could see the other floors from the lobby. A candlelit chandelier hung from the ceiling above. On the other side of the room was a massive stone fireplace. Chairs and a couch which sat in a semicircle around it. A stags' head was mounted above the mantle. To the left sat the check-in desk and the staircase leading up to the other floors. To the right sat a refreshments bar, a small dining area, and the kitchen. Large two-story windows sat around the lodge where you could look out at the mountain landscape. Decorations of wreaths, garland, and pinecones fashioned into art pieces adorned the entire lodge.

"Woooooww! This place is amazing!" Shanilla squealed.

"Of course it is!" Lolo said as she sauntered through the doors with the rest of the class. Her poor bodyguard was shouldering her huge, and many, bright pink suitcases. "My dad only books the best for me. He bought out this entire lodge so I don't have to deal with the riff-raff."

"Well, it was so NICE of you to invite us to come along on this trip then, Lolo." Spencer teased, knowing full well that she didn't want them there.

The only reason Spencer had been able to come on this trip was that Lolo's dad was paying for the entire class to go. Normally, the schools' field trips required that each student pay to go on a field trip so Spencer had never gone on any. Despite having inherited Billy's estate his family still wasn't exactly wealthy and the costs of the trips were often too high for his parents to pay for. This was the first field trip he had been able to go on since he came to Beverly Beverly High so he was stoked.

But it was no coincidence either as Class President reelections were coming up. Plain and simple, it was a bribe so everyone would vote for Lolo again. But to Lolo and Ponzi's extreme disappointment, the trip also included Spencer, Rajeev, and Shanilla. Ponzi and Lolo tried to make it so the 'losers' weren't allowed but the superintendent objected to their complaint, stating that field trips included the whole class so everyone was allowed to go provided their ticket was paid for. Lolo's many angry phone calls to her dad didn't change it as he had already paid. Later, she managed to flip the whole 'losers aren't allowed on the trip' scenario around. Now she was playing it off as her being extremely generous that she was 'allowing' everyone to come, even the losers, just so she could try and appeal to as many voters as possible.

She shot him a bitter smile, "You are soooo welcome. I am super generous after all. I hope all of you remember that during class president reelections."

As if they had a choice. Spencer shrugged, "Elections are still a ways away. You'll have to forgive me if it slips my mind."

She glared and eyed his bags, fixating on Billy's bedazzled ones in particular. She smirked as she then looked him up and down. He was wearing clothes he'd borrowed from Billy's stash. A white, puffy, faux-fur lined coat with slightly sparkly snowflakes embroidered on one shoulder, matching boots, and iridescent navy snow pants. NOT his cup of tea, AT ALL. But unfortunately, since he was accustomed to living in warm climates he had no winter clothing. Billy, on the other hand, had plenty to share and had spent a day and a half playing dress up, forcing Spencer into as many ridiculous winter outfits and costumes as possible whether Spencer wanted to or not. Spencer was happy he finally managed to talk Billy into only letting him borrow the simpler pieces of clothing, even if they still weren't his style.

"Didn't know this sort of thing was your taste. I'm afraid tacky and garish went out of fashion last year," Lolo taunted.

Spencer could feel Billy's white-hot glare from behind him. "I'll show her who's tacky and garish!" The ghost growled.

"Later," Spencer hissed at him.

"Talking to yourself again, loser?" Kleet joined in.

He glared at them.

"Listen, Wright. Nothing weird better happen on this trip or you're gonna regret it," Lolo said.

Ponzi walked in and stood in front of the bickering students, "Alright, class, settle down and listen up! We're here for three days and I'm in charge, so that means you gotta do whatever I say. Listen to your skiing instructors, stay with your chaperones, follow the rules of the lodge and the slopes. DO NOT go near the restricted slopes. Curfew is promptly at 8 pm, meaning you have to be back here INSIDE the lodge. No exceptions. Break the rules and you'll SORELY regret it. Now take your things to your assigned rooms. Anyone interested in skiing lessons: report to the slopes in half an hour to meet with the instructor. As for the rest of you, find something to occupy yourselves and don't disturb me. Lorenzo and I have an appointment." The principal stalked off to his room with his bird, a novel, and luggage in tow.

Spencer sighed and went to pick up one of his bags only for Kleet to kick it out of reach.

"See you on the slopes, LOSER!" the jock chuckled.

But unfortunately for Kleet, it was Billy's bag he kicked. The ghost retaliated by tying Kleets' shoelaces together and watching the jock trip and fall on his face. Spencer, Rajeev, and Shanilla laughed before grabbing their stuff and running up to their rooms.

Spencer deposited Billy's stuff on the far side of the room before setting his own on his bed and starting to unload it. The ghost flew into one of his bags and began rummaging around. Spencer had gotten lucky enough to have Rajeev for a roommate. At least that way they could still talk and interact with Billy without getting weird looks or taunts. Shanilla was on the other side of the lodge where the girls' rooms were.

"Ok, bromigos, what do you think?" Billy grinned as he zipped out of one of his bags and into the center of the room. He was decked out in one of his flamboyant winter outfits.

"It's very, uh...you," Spencer said.

"But totally in this season!" Rajeev complimented.

"THANK YOU. Finally, someone who speaks my language."

"But I don't get why you're all dressed up, dawg. It's not like anyone besides us is going to see you."

"Oh really?" Billy grinned. He swooped around Rajeev, deftly removing his belt.

"What-hey! Billy, I can't see you!" Rajeev protested to the floating belt in the room.

Spencer could still see Billy and watched the ghost concentrate for a moment. He appeared to look a bit more solid.

"Whoa, that's so cool! How are you doing that?" Rajeev cheered.

Spencer blinked, "Wait, you can see him without the belt?"

"Yeah!" Rajeev cheered.

Billy chuckled, "Been working on my ghost skills. This way people can see me and drink up this sexy outfit with their eyes."

"How exactly do you plan on getting away with that if Lolo bought out the lodge meaning you shouldn't be here?" Raj asked.

"All her dad bought out was the lodge. Not the slopes," Billy grinned as he pointed out the window.

Spencer and Rajeev looked out. He was right. In the distance, they could see people on the slopes. Other cabins and lodges dotted the distant hills and mountains as well.

"The Cobra is gonna wow some chick-a-dees when he shreds on the power." Billy tossed the belt back to Rajeev. He went back to being transparent, only being seen by anyone wearing his gear again.

Spencer rolled his eyes, "You have fun with that, Romeo. We have other important things to do."

They finished unpacking their stuff, Spencer grabbed his camera bag, and Rajeev grabbed his backpack. The trio exited the room to meet with Shanilla downstairs and head up to the slopes with the rest of the class.

Once they were outside Spencer was happy he'd borrowed Billy's winter clothes, even if they were a bit garish. Man, it was cold! He was not used to this type of weather. But it was worth it for the view. On the lift up the mountain, he filmed wonderful establishing shots of the forests and cliffs they passed. Billy, not being fond of heights, AT ALL, clung to him, Rajeev, and Shanilla the entire time nearly crying.

Honestly, Spencer wasn't interested in skiing at first but it turned out to be pretty fun. He'd never done it before and the group had a lot of laughs at one another's expense when they fell. Billy had spent all of two minutes making himself visible and flirting with a random curvy young adult female skier before a gust of cold wind hit him. It made Billy shiver violently and disrupted his powers, making him invisible again. Of course, this caused the woman to flip out and go racing down the hill. The ghost then proceeded to wrap himself like a snake around whichever member of the trio was available for warmth.

Later on in the day, a snowball fight broke out among the students. While the gang had fun Billy ended up retreating to the ski operators booth at the top of the lifts for warmth. The ghost even had trouble floating the short distance to the booth. The snow really was affecting him and Spencer pondered the effects that the cold had on his ghost powers. Unfortunately, with Billy out of the way, it opened up for Kleet to bully the group non-stop as they no longer had their ghostly intervention. The jock was really out to get them today.

When the snowball fight got too out of hand the chaperones stepped in to break it up and Spencer's group used this chance to slip away. They went to the top of the ski lifts where the ski operators' booth was to retrieve their stuff and Billy before heading into the woods.

"Why are you dragging me all the way out here? I told you ghosts and freezers don't mix and as far as I'm concerned, this is nothing more than one big freezer." Billy shivered against his current unwilling host, Rajeev.

"Hey, you were totally on board with coming out here earlier just to flirt," Spencer retorted. "You should have gone back to the lodge. Besides, did you really think all I was going to come all the way out here and not shoot an abominable snowman movie?"

Billy balked at him as he unwound from Rajeev and floated back. "Seriously? This is a field trip, dude! A vacation. We should be resting and relaxing in front of the fire. Making smores, drinking cocoa. Not working."

"But this can be fun too," Rajeev added, "No chaperone, no rules out here. Just fresh air and freedom to do what we want!"

Spencer nodded, "Besides, when exactly am I going to get another chance to shoot a movie like this again?"

"When you're rich and famous from making your other movies and old enough to fly the plane to Aspen. Now come on, let's go back where it's warm and cozy."

"You can go back if you want, dude, but we're going to shoot a movie," Spencer grinned as he continued on with Rajeev and Shanilla.

Billy grumbled, looking back and forth between the trio and the ski lifts. With a groan, he conceited and followed them.

Spencer glanced back at him, "Joining us after all?"

"Who else is gonna protect your little butts when something bad happens like it always does?" Billy shivered.

Rajeev snorted, "Looks like we didn't escape our chaperone after all."

"Haha, very funny," Billy mocked sarcastically.

The group approached the woodline. Signs were nailed along the rows of trees saying things like: 'Ski area boundary. No skiing past this point.', 'Danger, steep slopes.', and 'No trespassing'. Spencer continued ahead anyway.

"Uh, dudes, didn't you read the signs? We shouldn't go any farther," Billy said.

"Maybe Billy's right," Shanilla muttered, "Didn't principal Ponzi say to stay away from this area?"

"Just a little further, don't worry. We'll stay away from the slopes and it's not like we're going skiing. I just want a more wooded area to film in."

Billy grumbled but floated after them.

"Legend tells of an abominable snowman that stalks these mountains, scaring tourists and skiers away from the forbidden trails. But if he gets you then he's going to freeze you like an icicle! Mwuahaha!" Spencer taunted as they walked.

Billy screamed and dove into Spencer's camera bag to hide.

"You don't think it'll freeze us, do you?" Rajeev quivered.

"Pffft, please. It's not real, it's just a myth. There's only one article of a skier going missing up here years and years ago but that predates the sasquatch stories. The rumors are only scary stories to keep kids away from the dangerous slopes. But what could be better fuel for a horror movie than that, huh?" Spencer grinned as he panned the camera around at the scenery.

The further they went into the woods the darker it became. The trees had grown so close in this area that they blocked out most of the natural sunlight. Every now and then they came across steep clearings that once were ski slopes. They've since been closed and nature has started to take over again. Old ominous warning signs still clung to trees here and there, decaying and rusting. It was the perfect atmosphere for his movie.

They settled at a small clearing which branched off in four different directions towards different closed slopes, all surrounded by woods. Spencer made sure his equipment had the waterproof coverings as Rajeev took out the yeti costume from his backpack.

"This is gonna be awe-tastic!" Rajeev cheered as he put the suit on. Then he ran behind some bushes to hide. Shanilla, who had agreed to help star in the movie, took her cue and Spencer started filming.

For about half an hour they shot scene after scene for Spencer's horror movie. They were cold as the snow was starting to melt against their clothing, making them wet, but they kept shooting. It grew darker and darker, enhancing the atmosphere for his movie, and he was really digging the silhouette he was getting for the sasquatch monster.

Billy had emerged from his hiding spot in the camera bag and was currently coiled around Spencer for warmth. He shivered violently and looked bluer than usual.

Spencer cocked an eyebrow at him, "You ok, dude? You don't look so good."

"C-C-Cold…"

"I don't get how you can even feel the cold, you're a ghost."

"Oh, s-s-so you're an expert on ghosts now?"

Spencer hummed in thought. No. But he did want to learn more about ghosts, especially after what happened at the hospital. He still got the chills when he thought of that incident. Maybe a visit to Frank could help. Billy's head snapped to the right and he stared off into the woods. Spencer was about to ask what was wrong when something strange sounded from the woods.

A whistle. Like someone calling for a dog. A high whistle, then a low one.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. The woods were dead quiet. They listened. Again, there was the whistle. Billy let go of Spencer and drew up to his full height, floating a few feet up into the air. Wide-eyed, he started looking around into the woods.

"What? What is it?" Spencer asked.

"Shh! Something...doesn't feel right."

"It's probably just someone trying to scare us. Or someone out on the slopes," Shanilla reasoned.

Shanilla was probably right. Spencer was about to agree but stopped. Something clicked in his mind. "Wait...what did you say, Billy?"

Rajeev snickered, "Didn't you hear him? He said he's about to ecto his pant-"

Spencer slapped a hand over Rajeev's mouth, "Billy, what did you say?"

"Something doesn't feel right," The ghost repeated but kept his eyes fixed on the woods.

Something doesn't feel right. He had the exact same thing when Spencer tricked him into taking them to the old hospital. He didn't say something felt 'weird' or 'super Creepshow' or even that he was scared. The phrasing was very different than anything he'd usually say. Only back then Spencer hadn't listened to him and Billy had been right. A chill ran up his spine.

Billy and Spencer locked eyes. Billy didn't say anything but his expression was confirmation enough. They weren't alone and whatever was out there them wasn't something natural. The curious filmmaker in him wondered if it was another ghost and if they should try to contact it. He had joked about making a 'ghost hunter' found film series before but at the moment he wasn't so sure. Regardless of the positive outcome last time they encountered a ghost it had still been extremely dangerous and Spencer nearly got them all killed.

"What's wrong?" Rajeev asked.

Right, Rajeev and Shanilla had gone ahead to the hospital back then. "Back at the hospital before I followed you guys in Billy said the exact same thing to me. What if he can sense when there's a ghost around?"

Billy blinked, "Really?"

"That's amazing!" Shanilla said.

Spencer nodded. It made sense. Billy was a ghost and he could already tell there was going to be trouble before the gang had gone inside the hospital. The more his powers developed the more it made sense that he could tell when another ghost or something supernatural was around.

Something rattled in the bushes. The group turned so they stood back to back in a circle looking out into the woods.

The rattling sound grew louder and louder from the woods, rushing towards them. The gang braced themselves. Something burst out from the bushes, gliding in front of them and throwing snow in their faces. Everyone screamed and stumbled back to the ground, except for Billy who dove into a nearby bush to hide.

"Ahahaha!"

Spencer brushed the snow from his face. He knew that dumb laugh.

"Having a nice TRIP, losers?" Kleet taunted. The jerk had been the one to scare them and used his snowboard to fling the snow at them.

"Very funny. How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Rajeev spat, pushing himself up off the ground and brushing the snow off his clothes. Spencer and Shanilla did the same.

Spencer shot a glare at Billy who was staring at Kleet with confusion before turning to look back into the forest.

Ok, maybe it wasn't ghostly intuition.

Spencer turned his glare back to his daily bully. "What do you want?"

"To make your life miserable. What else?" He laughed, "Just wait until I tell Ponzi you losers were trespassing in the restricted area."

"Oh yeah? And how are you going to explain that you knew we were here? You'd be giving yourself away that you were here too." Shanilla shot back.

The bullies' face fell and he stuttered as he tried to think of an excuse.

Rajeev smirked, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Just you wait! I'm going to get a chaperone to bust you losers!" the jock shouted and boarded away.

Once Kleet was out of eyesight Spencer let out a sigh. "Guess we better head back before we're caught…"

"Yeah. Better safe than sorry," Shanilla agreed.

The gang grabbed their stuff and started heading back for the ski lifts. After a moment Spencer noticed his ghostly friend wasn't next to him like usual so he stopped and looked back. Billy was hovering in the middle of the clearing they had been in. His back was to Spencer and he was still looking out into the woods.

"Billy, come on, let's go! We're heading back. I'll get you a cup of hot cocoa."

Billy didn't answer right away. Huh, that's odd. Spencer was sure bribing him with cocoa would work. A beat later the ghost turned around and joined him, uncharacteristically stone-faced and quiet.

"You ok dude?" Spencer asked.

Billy looked at him and gave him a quick nod. He glanced behind them quickly before floating ahead. Spencer stopped and stared at his friend before looking back over his shoulder. He didn't see anything. Only the same snowy, cold landscape from before. But it was quiet. Very quiet. He turned back around and ran to join the rest of the group.

The fireplace at the lodge was so very nice after a long, cold day of playing in the snow and filming. Meals were included with the field trip plan and after the students had eaten Spencers' gang decided to sit by the fire. A few other wayward students also sat nearby.

Spencer sipped at his cup of cocoa as he reviewed the days' footage on his camera. So far so good. He glanced over at Billy who was sitting in one of the chairs and staring into the fire. The ghost had barely touched his cocoa which was enough of a red flag indicating something was wrong. Every now and then he'd glance out the window. He had been that way since they got back. At least he was looking better now that they were in a warmer area.

"Still pouting?" Spencer teased.

Billy blinked at him before shooting him a soft glare, "I'm telling you there was something else out there."

Rajeev rolled his eyes, "As if. You're just upset because you don't have a ghost sense."

"But you felt something though. Maybe you do have some kind of 'threat' detection ghost ability," Shanilla offered.

"Like a Spidey-sense?" Spencer laughed.

"Doubt it. He just got scared from the whistling," Rajeev chuckled.

Billy grumbled at them, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He glanced out the window again for the twelfth time since they got back. Still...that little spark of doubt was in Spencer's mind saying 'what if he's right?'. He was right last time. Spencer looked out the window too.

Then he shook his head. No. No, no, no. Honestly, he didn't want to think about that sort of thing right now. They were on vacation, even if he was working on a movie. But still…Billy did seem really uneasy.

"What do you say we pay Frank a visit when we get home?"

Billy looked at him, "What? Why?"

Spencer shrugged, "What could it hurt? We could pick his brain for more ghost knowledge. There's lots we don't know."

"Oooh, that's a good idea! Could we come?" Shanilla asked.

"Yeah! I'd love to meet a new ghost!" Rajeev said.

"Uh, I dunno. He's kind of a recluse. Not very social," Spencer said.

Billy snorted, "That's one way of putting it. He probably won't even give us the time of day if we do go back."

Spencer sighed. It was worth a shot. He returned to reviewing his camera footage. Then something bumped into him, jostling his cocoa and spilling it all over his clothes and camera. He jumped up with a shout, frantically grabbing a nearby napkin and rubbing the cocoa off of the camera.

"Oops!" came the familiar lug-headed voice, "Careful not to be so clumsy, loser!"

"What is your deal?!" Spencer shouted at the bully. "Do you have any idea how precious this thing is to me?!"

"Duh! Which is why it's so much funnier!"

"Do you have any idea how much that coat cost?!" Billy shouted although Kleet couldn't hear him.

Spencer glared at Kleet, tired of being tormented all day by this moron. But before he could say anything the lights throughout the room dimmed. Spencer looked at them but Kleet didn't seem to notice. Then Kleets' own cup of cocoa exploded in his face. The jock yelped, trying to scrub the hot liquid and whipped cream off his face as he ran to the bathroom. The lights returned to normal.

The gang all blinked before bursting out laughing.

"Nice one, dude!" Spencer said as he nudged Billy.

Billy blinked in confusion, "How did I do that…?"

"Who cares how?" Rajeev laughed, "It was awesome!"

When their laughter finally died down Spencer stood up. "Come on, I better make sure my camera is ok and get cleaned up."

They went upstairs to their rooms. Billy took the coat from Spencer to the bathroom and started to wash the stain out while Spencer checked his camera. Thankfully, it was still ok, the waterproof cover he had yet to take off did its job. Then he started going over the scenes he wanted to film tomorrow with Rajeev.

The wind outside began to pick up and snow began to fall. Spencer caught Billy staring out the window. Yet again that little voice in his mind began to bother him and wonder if something was out there.


	2. Chapter 2

Light snow fell from the sky the next morning with a blizzard forecasted for later in the afternoon. The ski lifts were still working but the staff anticipated having to shut them down once the weather worsened. After a hearty breakfast, the class went up the mountain for more skiing. However, Spencer's group slipped away again so they could continue filming before the blizzard hit. The chaperones were too engrossed with chattering among themselves so they didn't notice. No one seemed to pay much attention to Spencer's group anyway. Spencer only hoped that his regular bullies didn't notice them leaving either.

They returned to the same clearing from yesterday and went about filming until well into the afternoon. The overcast sky and light, fluffy snow set the perfect atmosphere for the scenes Spencer needed to film.

Billy had hovered close to Spencer the whole day, mostly for warmth despite being dressed in heavy snow gear. But the ghosts' eyes would frequently dart around the woods. At first, his twitchiness even made Spencer on edge. But as the day progressed Spencer simply became annoyed. It didn't help that the ghost kept sneezing and spitting ecto everywhere. Spencer had to stop quite a few times to make Billy clean it up to avoid any ecto shenanigans.

When the sun began to go down the light snowfall turned into thick chunks and what felt like rain pelted their skin. The temperature had dropped and ice started to accumulate on their clothes and equipment. The group was beginning to get grumpy from the cold, damp environment. As the forecast had predicted the blizzard was closing in and the thicker snowfall was decreasing visibility.

"I'm glad I brought my guitar…" Billy muttered with another agitated glance into the woods as he adjusted the strap on his guitar case which was slung on his back.

"Why?"

"My trusty guitars haven't let us down yet! If we run into something I could just clobber it!"

"You're gonna run out of guitars if you keep flinging them around like baseball bats," Spencer mumbled.

"It's not like I use my good guitars."

"There's no need to 'clobber' anything, anyway. There's nothing out here."

Billy pouted, "I'm telling you, abominable bro-man, I know something else was out there!"

Spencer repressed a sigh. He honestly wasn't sure if Billy was right or not. But they'd yet to encounter anything supernatural and as far as Spencer was concerned their only current obstacle was an obnoxious bully. Despite his curiosity in anything ghost or cryptid related he didn't feel like he was ready for another supernatural incident yet. If there was anything in these woods he wasn't going to seek it out. He was going to finish his movie and then enjoy some downtime for a change.

Billy pouted before shivering violently. "Are you done yet? It's so cold, dude! My powers are all messed up and I'm gonna freeze again!"

"I don't understand why you didn't just stay at the lodge where it's warm. All you've done is complain about the cold all day."

Billy huffed. Then he sneezed again, spraying ecto on his arm. He sniffled before reabsorbing it. Spencer gagged.

"I think I'm getting a cold, Broman." The ghost whined.

"I don't think ghosts can catch a cold."

"How would you know?" Billy spat.

"I agree with Billy. Can we head back already? I can't feel my toes!" Rajeev complained.

"I told you to wear thermal socks," Shanilla chided.

"But they don't go with my custom boots!" Rajeev said, lifting the pant leg up on the yeti costume to emphasize this fact. "How will Lolo ever take me seriously unless I always dress to impress?"

"She won't, no matter how you dress."

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright, tool bags. I'll finish up and we'll head back early, ok? Go start packing."

Billy perked up, "Don't gotta tell me twice!" He zipped back to the equipment and started putting things away along with the twins.

"I'm going to go get one more scenery shot. Be right back," he called as he slung his camera bag over his shoulder and went into the woods.

Spencer only intended to go a little further into the woods to get some good scenery shots for the movie. However, the further he went the more interesting things he found. In the distance, he could see the old ski lifts and stations dotting the closed slopes. One lift looked like it had stopped mid-operation. Rusting chairs, covered in snow and ice, dangled from the old lines.

"Cooolll," Spencer whispered as if speaking too loud would cause the line to break. He filmed the surrounding scenery and the old lifts, growing more and more excited to finish his new movie.

The silence was penetrated by a high and low whistle echoing through the woods. Spencer jolted, spinning around looking for the source. Nothing moved except for the snowfall and the trees swaying in the wind. Spencer glared into the woods in the direction it came from.

"Very funny, Kleet, but that won't work a second time!" he shouted.

No answer.

"Get out here, you lug head!"

Nothing.

Spencer stayed quiet for a minute, listening to the wind howl in the trees and the snow softly pat down on the ground. It could be the wind. But it sounded too human, too intentional. Exactly like the whistling from yesterday. Billy flew up to him a second later.

"Yo, everything ok, M. Night Broamalan? I heard shouting."

"Yeah, fine. I heard whistling. I think Kleet is lurking around trying to play tricks again."

Billy grinned, "Aaahhh. Now's our chance to get back at him!"

Spencer smirked, "Good idea."

There was a rustling in the bushes and the boys scanned for any sign of where Kleet was hiding. Billy pointed to something in the woods, "There!"

Through the thicket, the boys saw a tall, shadowy figure slowly making its way towards them. Occasionally, it stopped and looked around meaning he hadn't seen Spencer yet. Good, Spencer smirked and crouched down behind a bush.

"You lure him this way and I'll nail him with a giant snowball!" Billy grinned as he started combining large scoops of snow into a giant snowball.

Spencer nodded as he put his camera back in his bag to protect it. He ducked into the woods, carefully weaving around bushes and trees so as not to be seen. The shadowy figure in the distance slowly grew closer. Kind of hobbling around and swaying, lingering every so often in one spot. Not really the way someone trying to sneak up on someone would move. That was odd. Maybe the jock snowboarded into a tree or something. Spencer snorted at the thought.

The noise caught the figures' attention as it whipped around in Spencer's direction. Spencer ducked behind a small snow-covered evergreen tree. He could jump out, scarring the bully before running and leading him to Billy's trap. Spencer heard heavy footsteps approach and peeked through a gap in the leaves, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, Spence?" Billy called, "Are-Are you sure about this? I'm getting a funny feeling aga-"

"Shh!" Spencer hissed.

He vaguely heard Billy sneeze in the background but something a little more pressing was on his mind at the moment…

His grin had faded as the figure drew closer. It was still a little ways off but he was already beginning to doubt that it was Kleet. Even in the distance and through the thick fog of snow he saw that it was several feet too tall and somehow bulkier than the jock. That and human eyes didn't typically glow red. Definitely not Kleet. It was huge, all white, and tall enough to compete with some of the trees. Arms and legs too long and too thick to be human with a hulking upper body.

Instantly he thought of the hospital. Of Frank's haunting form when he was a kid. Of the monsters, the ghosts, darkness, hands grabbing him, being trapped, alone, and terrified. Any rationality he had flew out the door.

A real abominable snowman, Spencer thought. Unconsciously, he stood up. A stupid idea really. He didn't even know why he did it as the figure now saw him. It came right at him.

Spencer turned and sprinted back towards the clearing as fast as he could. The thick snow made it hard to run. That thing was going to catch up with him.

"RUN!" he shouted over and over, hoping his friends would hear him.

"Incoming!" Billy shouted as he triumphantly swooped in front of Spencer, heaving a giant snowball over his head.

"Not Kleet, not Kleet! Run!" Spencer yelled.

Billy blinked at him as he ran past. But when he saw what was coming he screamed, throwing the giant snowball at the beast before spinning around and joining him. The snowball hit the lumbering monster who fell to the ground with a thud and a grunt. Spencer and Billy kept going. The snow was so deep it was hard for Spencer to move through it. He cursed under his breath, heaving his legs up and through the snow. The pair burst into the small clearing, startling both Shanilla and Rajeev.

"RUN!" Spencer yelled.

"What? Why?" Rajeev asked.

"There's an abominable snowman after us!" Billy trembled.

"Pffft, very funny!" Rajeev said.

There was another earth-shaking roar that echoed through the valleys and hills. Thankfully, Shanilla didn't need any further convincing as she grabbed the last bag and started hauling ass with Billy back to the lifts. Spencer grabbed Rajeev's arm, pulling him along with them. "It's not a joke!"

They all sprinted for the lifts. The snow had been falling thickly for some time now and Spencer prayed they weren't too late to catch a carriage down the mountain. They wouldn't be able to outrun this thing on foot. They burst out of the woods and ran to the lifts. Spencer thanked their lucky stars at the sight of the last gondola still docked at the station.

Spencer, Rajeev, Shanilla, and Billy dove onto the gondola right before the doors closed. All four of them collapsed onto the floor trying to catch their breath. Billy immediately coiled around Spencer like a snake and shivered. Whether it was for warmth or because he was terrified Spencer didn't know. Probably both.

"Ew, can't you losers get in a different carriage?" came a very familiar obnoxious voice.

Spencer pushed himself up onto his elbows. Low and behold, there sat the prissy princess herself with her hench-lacky. Spencer glared at her but the lift jolted and started to move the gondola. He smirked, "Looks like it's a little too late now."

Lolo glared right back at him.

"Hellooo, Lolo," Rajeev purred as he planted himself next to her. She growled and pushed him away.

"Spencer, what was that thing?" Shanilla asked in a hushed voice now that Lolo was preoccupied with Rajeev.

"A real abominable snowman," Spencer whispered back.

"So the rumors are true!" She gasped as she looked out the window into the woods, trying to catch a glimpse of it.

"It would appear so…" Now that the adrenalin and his heart rate had gone down a thought crossed his mind and he smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh, I'm an idiot! I didn't even think to capture it on film!"

"What are you going on about, you dork?" Lolo growled.

"None of your business," Spencer snapped back as he got up and slumped into a seat with Shanilla. There was no point in trying to convince Lolo that an actual abominable snowman lurked in the woods. She would never believe him. She hadn't believed him back at the hospital, even when the evidence was literally in front of her face.

"Don't worry yourself with them, boo. Not with the Raj here to-"

Lolo shoved him away before Rajeev could finish.

Spencer sighed in frustration at the ceiling. "I can't believe I missed the perfect opportunity to film a real abominable snowman." He muttered to Billy as the ghost slowly unwrapped himself and sat next to him.

"If you think we're going back there again-"

"No, no...we won't," Spencer said in defeat. As badly as he wanted to, he knew he had pushed it last time and he was in no hurry to repeat that mistake. The thought of encountering another haunting creature unsettled him. And for some reason, his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Billy opened his mouth as if to say something but decided against it and snapped it shut. He shared a worried look with Shanilla.

Later that evening after dinner Spencer, Rajeev, and Billy huddled together in their room. Shanilla had joined them as it wasn't curfew yet so the students could still intermingle in the boys and girls sections.

Billy strummed away on his guitar while simultaneously practicing his visibility power now that they were someplace warm. Rajeev sat across from the ghost with his belt off, reading celebrity magazines and occasionally glancing where Billy sat to tell him whether he could see him or not. At best he could only appear somewhat visible, still kind of see-through.

Shanilla was typing away on her laptop, supposedly on her gossip blog. Spencer was reviewing all his footage with a forlorn expression. He didn't quite have enough to make a full-length 80-minute film as he planned. Maybe he could incorporate it into another short 'found footage' theme. But he didn't really like that idea. He was also trying to see if he'd caught the actual snowman on camera at any point during filming. Nothing. At least he'd stopped shaking.

Spencer cursed under his breath.

"Language," Billy chided in a teasing tone.

"Learned it from you," Spencer snapped back.

The ghost let out a chuckle before floating over and glancing over Spencer's shoulder. "Why you stressin', bro-tato? No evidence of your squatch?"

"No," he groaned, putting the camera down on the bed.

Billy hummed, "You know I'm still waiting."

"For?"

"For you to admit I was right." Billy floated in front of him upside down, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Spencer pouted and shoved him away. "Fine. You were right. Happy?"

Billy laughed triumphantly. "Good. Now that that's established I'm glad we can agree to NEVER go up there ever again."

"Are we really gonna miss the chance to catch a real sasquatch on film?" Rajeev asked.

Spencer rolled his eyes, "I hate to agree with his royal highness, but yeah...I'm not in any hurry to repeat the 'hospital' incident anytime soon. Are you?"

The other three collectively shivered and shook their heads.

"Besides, there are no reports of people getting hurt or going missing recently so I think it's safe to say we can just leave it alone and everything will be ok," Spencer added.

Rajeev made an unsure face but said nothing else.

"At least we know your ghost powers are getting better," Shanilla said to Billy. "I wonder what else you can do."

"There's something we can practice while on this little trip. Then I'll show that old geezer who's the better ghost."

Spencer snorted, "So you ARE still butthurt over him out ghosting you."

"I am not!"

"Sounds pretty butthurt to me," Rajeev laughed. Spencer and Shanilla laughed with him. Billy huffed, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Alright, class, roll-call!" shouted Ponzi from the lobby.

"Uhg...that time again…" Spencer groaned as he got up with Rajeev and Shanilla. Shanilla brought her stuff with her as she'd have to return to her room after roll call.

The group went down to the lobby where the rest of the students were gathering as Ponzi shouted out names. Each student who was called upon responded with 'here'.

"Kleet!"

No answer. The students began to look around at each other. Huh...come to think of it Spencer hadn't seen Kleet all day. Normally that'd be a blessing but it was odd considering the bully liked to torment Spencer and his friends at least once a day if given the chance.

"Where's Kleet?" Ponzi demanded.

The students all shrugged or shook their heads, glancing around for the hulking jock.

"Well, who saw him last?" Ponzi demanded.

"Last I saw him he was on the mountain trying to scare the dorks," Lolo said offhandedly.

Spencer's head snapped to her. A realization dawned on him and he smacked himself in the face. "Of course it was Kleet!"

"Huh?" Shanilla asked.

"There is no such thing as a real abominable snowman. Whatever we saw earlier must have been Kleet pranking us with a costume or prop or something. There's no other explanation."

Billy had a nervous expression on his face, "I-I dunno about that, Brohan…"

"You sure?" Rajeev asked.

"Of course! Of all people, I should have known. Some stilts, a cheap costume, red lights for the eyes. I've built better suits than that. I can't believe I got scared by something so stupid."

Though, in his defense, he had recently fought off a disease skeleton-like monster by himself while trapped in a creepy abandoned hospital. So maybe he was a little jumpier than usual.

"He actually managed to scare you? HA! I didn't think that big idiot could pull it off," Lolo laughed.

Spencer glared at her, "You knew?"

"Of course I knew! I made a bet with him that he couldn't scare the pants off you losers no matter how hard he tried. Guess I lost. But it's worth it if you horror freaks got the pants scared off of you. Is that why you losers jumped into the gondola in such a hurry before? How pathetic!" She laughed along with her possi.

Billy growled and the lights happened to flicker for a second. No one seemed to pay it any mind.

"Settle down!" Ponzi barked. "Did anyone else see him today?"

The students answered with a resounding 'no' or shook their heads.

"Did anyone come down the mountain with him?"

Same response.

"Did anyone see him at dinner?"

Same thing. No one saw him.

"If he's still out then he's in a world of trouble. Kids, return to your rooms! You're all on lockdown until we find Kleet," Ponzi spat. Then he turned to the chaperones, ordering them to check all the rooms for the jock before checking outside.

Spencer thought it was too weird that Kleet hadn't returned. He'd even skipped dinner. Spencer had never known that lummox to miss a meal or turn down any food. Any food. Even Rajeev's concoction. The students started to shuffle to the stairs. What if Kleet hadn't come down the mountain after they saw him? What if something happened? The last Spencer saw of him was when Billy pelted the bully with the giant snowball. But surely that wouldn't be enough to take Kleet down would it? Then he remembered hearing Billy sneeze shortly before throwing the snowball. What if-

Oh no.

Spencer snatched Shanilla's arm as the group went upstairs, deftly sneaking her into their room.

She blinked at the three of them as he shut the door. "What's going on?"

"We need to go look for Kleet," Spencer answered.

He was met with a surrounding 'What?!'. He shushed them.

"What if something happened to him up there? Like when Billy hit him with the snowball. Billy, I heard you sneeze before you hit him with it. Did you make sure you didn't get any ecto anywhere?"

Billy had a confident smirk, "Of course I-" Then his face fell a little, "Uuhh...actually...I'm not sure."

"That's what I was afraid of. What if he's missing because of some ecto-incident? Remember Cactor, the Blob, and Bubbles? They were all transformed into ecto monsters from your ectoplasm. Or worse, it could have knocked him unconscious or even froze him."

"Do you really think that could have happened?" Rajeev asked.

"Think about it. It's more plausible than Kleet skipping dinner."

The group pondered it for a moment yet found little argument.

"But I thought you said we weren't going to go back there." Billy pouted.

"I know, I know. But that's when I thought there was actually a sasquatch, which there isn't. It was just Kleet pranking us. Besides, do you really think the chaperones and Ponzi can stand up to any of your ecto-monsters?"

"But what if he got frozen or hurt?" Shanilla asked.

Spencer paused, "Then we call for help."

Billy shrank back, "Do we have to? I mean we don't even know if anything happened to him yet. For all we know he's chillaxin' in someone else's room snacking on smores."

Spencer frowned. He felt a bit bad for going back on his word from earlier to not return to that area. Spencer grabbed Billy's warmest coat, his guitar case and handed them to the ghost.

"I know you're scared and don't do well in the cold, dude. I'm sorry. But if something did happen to Kleet up there then it's our fault and we have to be the ones to fix it. Come on, we can't do this without you."

Billy's eyes flickered between the guitar and Spencer. He groaned, putting the jacket on and slinging the guitar case on his back. "Dunno what good it'll do. My powers aren't gonna work either way."

Spencer smiled, "Think of it as something to work on."

The group snuck out of the lodge while the chaperons were preoccupied with looking for Kleet.

The blizzard had become significantly worse. Their flashlights did little to illuminate the path ahead through the thick snowfall. They relied primarily on the memory of where they walked before. As they reached the lifts Spencer grew increasingly worried about how they were going to get up the mountain let alone find Kleet in these conditions.

Spencer had an idea, yet he was still unsure if it would work. It was very risky and relied heavily on whether or not Billy could use his powers. They approached the ski lifts once again even though they were closed. No lights were on in the station but they saw that there was still a gondola in the docking station. Good. Billy phased through and unlocked the door so they could enter the station. Spencer found the power switch and turned it on, praying it wouldn't draw attention. They climbed onto the gondola and shut the door.

"Billy, can you use your telekinesis to start the gondola?" Spencer asked.

Billy grimaced and looked out the window at the control panel. He focused, faltering a moment when he shivered. But then the button pushed in and the car jolted to a start.

"Nice!" Rajeev cheered.

But as the gondola moved out of the station into the open air it began to jolt and skid. The kids all sat down, grabbing the handlebars around the car for support.

"It's the ice on the wire!" Shanilla said in a panic.

"Can you do something, Billy?" Spencer asked.

Billy stretched out a hand, glaring out at the wire through the window. He focused and grunted before swiping his hand through the air. The wire shook and they held on tight as the gondola rattled. The ice cracked and broke off of the wires, raining down to the ground far below.

"Coool!" Rajeev cheered again.

Billy plopped down between Spencer and Rajeev, curling in on himself and shivering. "That was exhausting!"

"You've done things harder than that," Spencer protested.

"I'm tellin' ya, it's the cold, Brosicle!" Billy complained, leaning closer to the two for warmth.

Spencer, Rajeev, and Shanilla shared concerned looks. They were going to be in a lot of trouble if Billy's powers didn't work against whatever they came across.

The top of the mountain was even darker than the bottom. Their flashlights did little to help them see. Spencer even fiddled with his camera settings to see if that helped. Night Vision was a little help but the thick snow still obscured their sight. The thick forest ahead of them was like a massive black wall of omen.

Spencer swallowed, ". . .Remind me why I suggested this again."

Billy was coiled around him like a snake again seeking warmth. "Cuz you're a sucker for punishment?"

Spencer bopped him on the head before starting into the woods with Rajeev and Shanilla towards the clearing. At least the tree canopy caught a lot of the falling snow. It was pitch black except for sports where the snow and ice reflected their lights. They could hear the howl of the wind as it blew through the trees and distant valleys. Ice and snow fell from trees throughout the forest with soft thuds. Branches creaked and groaned under the weight of the snow and ice. Their own footsteps crunching the snow beneath them.

Spencer thought he heard something so he stopped and turned around. He shined his flashlight in the direction of the noise, flickering it around to look between the trees. He wasn't even sure of what it was but every little crack and groan was making him jump.

"Something still doesn't feel right, bro…" Billy muttered.

Spencer frowned at him. Maybe there was something to this ghostly sense. They tried to listen again but there was only the whistling of the wind.

Whistling.

Spencer and Billy jumped, spinning around. Rajeev and Shanilla weren't there but he could see their flashlights moving a short distance ahead. Spencer was damn sure he'd heard the same distinct high and low whistle they'd heard the past two days.

"Rajeev? Shanilla? Kleet?" Spencer called just above a whisper. No one answered. "You heard that right? I'm not crazy, am I?" He asked the ghost.

Billy wound impossibly tighter around him and nodded vehemently.

Shanilla shrieked somewhere ahead.

"Guys, come look!" Rajeev shouted. He sounded panicked.

Spencer darted forward towards their lights. The closer he grew the more he could see something large and shiny reflecting the lights. They were still quite a distance from the clearing and as Spencer approached all his fears flooded back to him. His blood ran cold. The reflection of his flashlight came from a huge block of ice. Inside the block of ice was Kleet, frozen solid, with a permanent expression of horror written on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you think he's still alive in there?" Shanilla asked.

Spencer swallowed and tapped on the ice. Kleet didn't move a muscle. Though Spencer wasn't sure what he expected, the hulking teen was frozen solid for goodness sake. It wasn't some trick either by the looks of it. Spencer panned his camera up and down the block of ice.

"What are you doing?" Shanilla asked in a hushed tone.

"Getting evidence," Spencer answered, "No one's ever gonna believe us that this happened. If we need to get help we'll need proof."

"Hate to break it to ya but I don't think anyone will believe us either way," Rajeev said.

He frowned. Rajeev had a point. Spencer turned and shined his light into the woods as he panned the camera around. Night vision mode wasn't picking up on anything weird like it had back at the hospital; although Billy still looked like a white misty blob through it.

"Still...if something happens to us, like what happened to Kleet, maybe someone will find this. At least it could serve as a warning," Spencer argued. The three behind him all made varying noises of unease. It wasn't something they wanted to think about but it was true. There was the possibility they wouldn't get out of this unscathed, despite their previous track record for solving weird scenarios.

"Could Billy's powers have done this?" Rajeev asked, "Maybe it isn't that bad and it's a more simple fix?"

Billy gulped, cautiously putting one hand on the ice. He swiftly drew it back and shook his head. "This ain't me, dudes. At least not entirely..."

"What do you mean?" Shanilla asked.

Billy's face contorted, "I-I dunno...It's like...I kinda feel like it is but there's something else too."

Spencer blinked, "Something else? What kind of something else?"

He shook his head, "I don't know! I can't explain how I know, I just know!"

"Huh...you said the same thing at the hospital."

All three of them looked at Spencer. He looked over Kleets' frozen form once more before looking back down the path leading further into the forest.

"We're still too far from where Kleet would have been hit by Billy's snowball anyway. It looks like Kleet was coming in towards the clearing we were at," Spencer remarked.

"So...something else did do this to him?" Shanilla asked.

"Looks that way," Spencer answered.

"A-Are you sure? Maybe it could-could it have happened na-naturally?" Billy suggested as he trembled. But the tone of his voice said not even he believed that for one second. Rajeev and Shanilla shook their heads

"Think there's anything you can do to get him out?" Spencer asked.

The ghost's face faltered for a bit before he swallowed and took his guitar off his back. "I'll try."

Billy positioned himself in front of the block of ice, holding the guitar out and pointing it at the ice. He focused on the guitar, gritting his teeth, and becoming more and more strained with each passing second. The guitar trembled in the air as his arms started to shake.

The trio exchanged looks. "Uh, Billy… what are you doing?" Spencer asked.

"Trying to set this thing on fire to melt the ice!" Billy growled. Another few seconds passed with nothing happening. He cried out in frustration before positioning the guitar over his shoulder like a bat. "Fine, I'll just bust it!"

"NO!" The three teens cried.

Spencer jumped in between Billy and the ice. "If you break it you could shatter Kleet! We need a way to get him out alive!"

Billy sighed and slung the guitar back over his shoulder. "Fiiiine."

Spencer moved to the side to let Billy get in front of the ice again. The ghost put both hands on it and concentrated for a second. "Uhg! I can't even phase through this, what gives?!"

"The ice is ghost proof too? How is that possible?" Shanilla asked.

Spencer bit his lip, "It's possible if something else supernatural caused this..." He turned and started towards the clearing, making sure to continue recording everything.

Billy swooped in front of him and promptly stopped him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, broflake, where are you going?!"

Spencer stepped around him, "We need to find out what happened. I have a suspicion…"

Billy groaned but followed along with Rajeev and Shanilla.

Spencer returned to the clearing and saw the mound of snow that was once the snowball Billy had thrown. There was an indentation where the thing which had chased them had been. But whatever it was had vanished. Just barely visible were huge indentations of some kind of footprint where something or someone had gotten up and walked away. Spencer swallowed.

"What-what happened?" Billy asked.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say your ecto created another monster."

"Well, then what was that thing that chased us earlier? And if it's my ecto that caused this why can't I phase through Kleets' ice prison?"

"He's got a point," Rajeev muttered.

Spencer didn't have an answer for those so he shrugged and shook his head. They still didn't know enough about ghost powers to rule out one of Billys' eco shenanigans. But could it have been a legitimate sasquatch-like snowman which they had seen earlier? Or someone else playing a prank? Kleet wasn't the only one who bullied them at school. Now he seriously started to doubt everything. He had no idea what was going on.

The hairs stood on the back of his neck and his heart rate increased. He flashed the flashlight and camera into the woods towards every little noise that caused him to flinch. Spencer found he didn't like not knowing what they were dealing with. It was like being at the hospital all over again. Instead of being interested in the possibility of discovering some cryptid or another ghost as he normally would be, now he was simply afraid. More than anything he just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. Huh...now he knew what the victims in horror movies felt...

"What do we do?" Rajeev shivered.

A branch broke in the woods. Everyone jumped and Billy shrank behind the group. They turned their attention towards the sound. Another thud in a different direction had them spinning around again, their lights dancing between the gaps in the trees, looking for any movement. Sounds were all around them. Branches braking, things falling to the ground, the whistle of the wind, their heartbeats thundering in their ears. No matter which way they turned they only saw the dark forest against the snowfall.

"Uuuhh, maybe we should move to a more open area?" Shanilla suggested with a tremble in her voice.

"You're right, let's go," Spencer agreed as he quickly stuffed the camera back in his camera bag to keep it safe.

The four high-tailed it back the way they came. Spencer gave a sympathetic frown to Kleet as they passed him on the way back out of the forest. They might not get along but Spencer wasn't going to just leave him there. He was going to find a way to unfreeze the jock, one way or another.

Not two feet away from Kleets' frozen form did they hear the loud crack of a large branch breaking, either from falling off a tree or...being stepped on by something big. Something very big. Rajeev and Shanilla looked back while Spencer bit his lip and cursed under his breath, damning his luck.

A roar tore across the mountain.

"Run!" Spencer shouted and darted forward with Rajeev, Shanilla, and Billy hot on his heels.

A thundering gallop shook the ground as branches and underbrush crunched and cracked from behind them. Chunks of snow and jagged pieces of ice fell from the trees; Spencer, Rajeev, and Shanilla covered their heads with their arms to protect themselves. Billy shrieked from behind before zipping up next to Spencer.

"Faster, go faster!"

"What, why?! Did you see it?" Spencer asked.

Billy nodded furiously while biting his lower lip. Spencer chanced a glance over his shoulder. Despite his fear he was still the ever-curious horror filmmaker, he wanted to see it too. The trees behind them shook and moved like waves as the drumming tread of something huge grew louder and the earth shook harder. There was movement in the distance busting through trees and undergrowth as if they were toothpicks. Billy pushed him, making him face forward and run faster. Spencer hadn't even realized that he had fallen behind Rajeev and Shanilla.

The quartet burst out of the woods into the open area where the normal slopes were. The snow was still falling in thick wet chunks making it nearly impossible to see the ski lift ahead but they ran for it anyway. Spencer glanced over his shoulder again in time to see the treeline erupt.

"Get down!" Billy yelled before tackling the three into the snow right as giant splinters of wood and logs whizzed by overhead.

Spencer pushed himself to his elbows and twisted to look back at the woods. From the plumes of swirling snow burst a huge lumbering mass. Its form and stance resembled a gorilla or some other form of primate but much larger. Its bulky body was white, appeared to be made from snow, and jagged spikes of ice stuck out from various parts of its body and its hands. It had small red eyes and a face which was elongated, distorted with a huge gaping mouth lined with ice spikes like teeth with long icy fangs and tusks.

"What the heck is that?!" Rajeev shrieked.

"That doesn't look like the same creature from before!" Billy whimpered.

"Ya think?!" Spencer vaulted to his feet and helped the twins up.

As they started running again the monster shot shards of ice at them from its hands. The spikes just barely missed hitting the group as they zig-zagged. A new set of icy spikes regrew, or rather refroze, on the monsters' hands. It threw another flurry of spikes which barely missed the teens. The spikes regrew once again.

"Great, that things' got unlimited ammo," Spencer groaned.

"What's the plan?!" Shanilla asked as they sprinted.

"Uhh…" Spencer honestly didn't know what to do. His whole plan had relied on Billy being able to use his powers to some degree. In hindsight, he should have formulated a plan B. But no matter what plan he would have concocted none of them involved a huge gorilla-like abominable snowman trying to kill them. "Billy do something!"

"Do what?! I can't fight that thing, are you nuts?!" The ghost shrieked.

"Just think of it like fighting Cactor," Rajeev said.

"Cactor wasn't a 10 foot tall King Kong snow beast shooting icy death spikes at us!"

Spencer whipped his head and flashlight around to get another look at the thing. The light shone in its face and the creature let out a shriek as it covered its eyes. It frantically started shooting ice spikes in all directions.

A small building sat not too far from the ski lift which was used as a rest stop to go to the bathroom, buy a hot drink, or rent or repair skiing and boarding gear. The group ducked behind the booth to hide from the snowman. They shut off their lights so they wouldn't draw attention.

"That was weird," Spencer panted as he peeked around the corner to watch the monster scrub at its face.

"Don't do it again! We almost got impaled!" Billy hissed.

Spencer ducked out of sight again as the creature compost itself and started looking for them.

"Billy, what can you do?" Spencer asked in a whisper.

The ghost swung his guitar out from his shoulder again and concentrated on it. For a brief second, it flickered blue but faded. He let out an exhausted half-sob, "Nothing!"

Rajeev peeked around the corner then ducked back behind the wall. "Guys, it's coming this way!" He whispered.

"Ok, ok. Billy, if you can get close enough to it to touch it do you think you could reabsorb your ecto?" Spencer asked.

"What?! No way I'm getting close to that thing!"

"You have to at least try. Come on, man, we can't let that thing go on a rampage! You're the only one who can stop it."

Billy whimpered, "I dunno...I'll try…"

"How are we gonna get Billy close enough to that thing long enough to absorb the ecto without it pummeling him?" Shanilla asked, to which Billy let out a small 'eep!'.

Spencer bit his lip and looked around. They needed to distract the monster long enough for Billy to destabilize it. Then he fixated on the floodlights near the slopes. Normally they'd be turned on for skiers and snowboarders to see in the dark but since the slope was closed due to the snowstorm they were currently off. Spencer recalled how the monster flinched from his flashlight. It made sense. It was very dark outside and while the light itself may not directly harm it, the creature probably isn't accustomed to bright lights yet. Maybe if they could get them on it would stun the beast long enough to blind it and give Billy the precious few seconds he needed to extract the ectoplasm.

"Hey, guys-"

BOOM!

The booth erupted behind them. Spencer must have blacked out for a few moments because the next thing he was aware of was a face full of snow and a painful ringing in his ears. And of course his body was aching all over. He tried to push himself up on aching limbs but only got up just enough to where he could breathe. Something was pressing against his back and keeping him down. He twisted just enough to see Billy leaning over him on his elbows and knees. Through him, Spencer could see part of the wall had collapsed on top of them. Billy was struggling to hold it up yet not moving anymore so they could escape.

"Billy, what-?"

"Shh!" The ghost grunted, snaking one hand around to cover Spencer's mouth.

Spencer blinked. Billy was looking pointedly at a gap between the wall and ground just ahead. Spencer looked but couldn't quite see. It was too dark. He felt around for his camera bag, unzipped it, and pulled the camera out. He turned on the night vision, aimed at the slight opening ahead, and zoomed in.

Through the viewfinder he saw the giants' feet, walking forward. He heard a low rumble coming from it. One of its colossal hands swept forward, sweeping through a pile of debris and flinging them around as if they were leaves. Spencer flinched.

"What's the plan?" Came Rajeev's hushed, quivering voice.

Spencer twisted and saw the twins huddled together next to him, also hiding under Billy's support.

"I think I have an idea," Spencer whispered, "Did you see those floodlights by the slopes? What if we can turn them on and blind the monster just long enough for Billy to get to it? There looks like there's a sweet spot just underneath of them where they'll be super bright."

"But the lights aren't on. How are we gonna do that?" Shanilla asked.

"I think the control panel is in the ski lift booth. Billy can help Shanilla get inside to turn them on while Rajeev and I distract the monster and lure it into position. Billy, when it's distracted you might be able to get close to it long enough to extract the ecto."

"Are you nuts?!" Rajeev hissed.

"What he said!" Billy agreed.

"You guys got a better idea?!" Spencer spat back. "And, no, not running away and letting that thing run rampant!" He added pointedly at Billy.

Billy and Rajeev shared guilty looks.

"Spencer's right," Shanilla said, "We can't let that thing go on destroying everything and everyone. What if it makes its way to the lodge? Everyone back there could be frozen like Kleet, or worse! If blinding could work long enough for Billy to get in and get his ectoplasm back then it's worth a shot."

Spencer smiled at her and she blushed and looked away. She was always the smarter one between the two twins and he was happy that she was on board with stopping that beast.

"But what about you two?" Billy groaned, looking at Spencer and Rajeev. "If you're not fast enough that thing could kill you!"

"Just trust us," Spencer pleaded.

It did nothing to ease his cousins' worried expression, yet Billy didn't argue. He glanced through the gap again before nodding and slowly pushing up on the wall on top of them. His arms and legs trembled under the weight but he lifted the wall just enough for the trio to crawl out from under it. When they were clear Billy let the wall fall and he phased up through it. The monster was hobbling off in the distance towards the slope. Spencer gulped, suspecting it wanted to make its way to the lodge as Shanilla had said. They couldn't let that happen.

Spencer stuffed his camera in his camera bag and grabbed two snowboards from the rubble, one of which he shoved into Rajeevs' hands. Then he grabbed two large chunks of wood to act as a shield and handed one to Rajeev. "Let's find out if those lessons were any good," Spencer added with a hint of humor, hoping to cheer his friend up.

Rajeev didn't look any less nervous but took the stuff and stepped on the snowboard anyway. Spencer nodded to Shanilla who nodded back and started to creep towards the ski lift booth. Billy stared at Rajeev and Spencer for a few seconds, his expression still uneasy and worried.

"Don't worry, it's gonna be ok," Spencer assured him.

Billy sighed, not convinced but he relented and followed Shanilla.

"You think this will work?" Rajeev asked when they were out of earshot.

"Not really...but it's worth a shot. Don't get killed, ok?" Spencer swallowed as he slipped his shoe into the snowboard boot and adjusted his makeshift shield. He grabbed a broken piece of wood with a jagged end and pushed off, gliding across the snow towards the monster. Rajeev followed.

Spencer and Rajeev glided across the snow, picking up speed. The monster still had its back to them and had yet to notice them. It was still slowly walking down the largest slope which eventually would lead to the lodge. When he felt he was close enough Spencer levied the sharp piece of wood above his head like a lance and threw it.

It hit the beast in the back and became lodged. The creature turned and let out a mighty roar. Rajeev and Spencer didn't stick around to see what it would do. They turned and high tailed it towards the spot where the floodlights would be brightest. They zig-zagged, avoiding the flurry of oncoming icy spikes that the monster shot at them, making sure to shield themselves with their wooden panels from the ones they were unable to dodge.

Spencer could see Shanilla and Billy enter into the control booth just as two more spikes lodged themselves into his shield. They needed to go faster. He pushed and pushed as hard against the ground with his free leg, getting closer and closer to the ambush point. Through the glass, he could faintly make out her figure fidgeting with the control panel inside. He really hoped the lights would turn on. There was always the possibility they wouldn't. Of course, he hadn't thought of that until now...And if Spencer's hands were clammier and his heart pounded in his ears a little louder than usual he ignored it. He didn't have the luxury of being scared right now.

When Rajeev and Spencer hit the ambush point they diverted in two different directions, causing the monster to stop in its tracks, trying to figure out who to go after. That's when the lights came on.

The snowman shrieked and roared, its small red eyes becoming slits as a sigh they were shut and it flailed its huge arms erratically. When it couldn't orient itself it finally turned away from the light and rubbed at its face. This was Billy's cue.

The ghost flew out from the control booth and latched onto the monsters' back. The thing let out a startled grunt and tried to swipe back at him but its arms were too bulky to reach that far back. Billy grinned and punched his hands into the beasts' snow body.

"Yes!" Spencer and Rajeev cheered.

Then Billys' face contorted into confusion as he fished around through the snow, each precious second passing by all too quickly.

"Billy, hurry up!" Spencer called.

"I'm tryin'!" The ghost shouted. Then he froze, his face dropping in shock.

Time's up.

The beast finally reached back far enough to grab Billy by the edge of his coat and throw him. Billy spiraled through the air several dozen feet away before slamming into the ground.

"Billy!" Spencer and Rajeev called.

The monster spun around, shooting a flurry of spikes from its hands at the floodlights which exploded and froze over upon collision. The monster turned its attention on them. Both boys whimpered before turning and boarding away as fast as they could.

"Now what?!" Rajeev called as he zigzagged to avoid icy spikes chucked at them.

"Uuhhh-" Spencer had no idea. He was so sure that it was going to work! What went wrong? Spencer swerved to avoid the spikes, trying not to lose balance. "We need a new plan! We gotta regroup and hide somewhere!"

They started for the control booth. A large spike shot out and whizzed past their heads. Spencer flinched but noticed where the spike was headed. Right for the booth. His heart stopped.

Shanilla shrieked and dove out a split second before the spike hit the booth, piercing right through the metal like a pencil through wet paper. The spike embedded in the booth and exploded with ice, encompassing the entire structure. A second spike shot whizzed by them. This time it pierced the gondola which also iced over.

Spencer cursed under his breath.

"That was the only gondola to get us back!" Rajeev shouted.

"I know!" Now they'd have to either walk or board down the whole mountain to get back. That would be a long trek.

Shanilla lay on the ground a few feet away from the control booth, covering her head. Spencer and Rajeev hurried over to her and helped her up.

"Are you ok?!" Spencer asked in a panic.

She gave a shaky nod. They didn't have the luxury of checking her over to be sure. Rajeev squeezed her onto his board and they took off again with the monster not far behind.

"Head for the woods! We need to lose it! I'll get Bil-" Spencer called before he was launched into the air. An icy spike had lodged itself in his snowboard and threw him off. The sky and ground spun as he flipped through the air. Spencer hit the ground and rolled to a stop in the snow.

"Spencer!" He heard Shanilla cry out.

Spencer quickly tried to lean up on one elbow and shoo them away. But his vision was still spinning so he wasn't sure if he was even facing the correct direction. A moment later he heard both of them cry out and two simultaneous thuds hit the ground. Spencer shook his head to dispel his dizziness and he looked up. Rajeev and Shanilla had also been knocked off their boards and were on the ground. The monster had stopped running but was now trudging towards his friends.

Spencer saw the monster grin, baring its icy teeth. Spencer gritted his teeth. No way was he going to let that thing hurt his friends. He picked up his impaled snowboard and jumped to his feet. He charged at the beast and slammed the board against the things back as hard as he could. The board got stuck in its snow body and Spencer couldn't rip it free. When it started to freeze over he was forced to let go or else be frozen with it. The monster turned and growled at him, its icy teeth growing larger and sharper. The monster reached back, grabbing the board and ripping it free. Spencer gulped and tried to back up quickly but the snow made it difficult to move.

The snowman reared back, sucking in a huge breath of air. Snowflakes falling around it were sucked in like light being sucked into a black hole. Spencer gulped. He didn't want to know what this thing was about to do to him so he dove to the side right as the creature exhaled. But he was too slow. Cold like nothing he'd ever felt before hit his foot and it instantly went numb.

He cried out as he hit the ground.

Spencer groaned around yet another faceful of snow. His exposed skin stung like no other. He gingerly leaned up, brushing the snow from his face. He glanced back at his leg and saw his foot was encased in a small block of ice. So that's how Kleet got frozen, his brain supplied. Not that it would matter in a second. He swallowed thickly and looked up at the monster.

The creature loomed over him, brandishing the snowboard over its head, ice growing swiftly around it so it became a mace. Spencer screwed his eyes shut and turned away. If he was about to die he didn't want to watch it happen. He waited for the inevitable thud that would crush his body to a bloody pulp.

Instead, he heard a grunt and harsh twang. He looked up. Billy stood over him, using the guitar as a shield. By all means, the instrument should have shattered into a million pieces but it didn't. It was glowing a faint blue.

The ghost grunted and shoved the monster off, swinging the instrument until he was holding it like a proper guitar. Then, for some reason, he struck a chord. Not what Spencer was expecting. Nor did he expect the shock wave that blew out from it. It was loud! Impossibly loud. Spencer covered his ears, he could feel the shock wave reverberate through his body. The snowman staggered back, its entire body of snow and ice shifted from the vibrations, struggling to keep itself together.

Billy's expression was just as shocked as Spencers as the ghost stared owl-eyed at the beasts' faltering form.

"What...the hell?" Spencer gaped.

Rajeev and Shailla ran up to Spencer and helped him on his feet.

"Dude, how'd you do that?!" Rajeev exclaimed.

"No idea…" Billy muttered and glanced down at the guitar. "I have no idea why I even-..."

"Spencer, are you ok? What happened to your foot?" Shanilla asked.

"I'm guessing the same thing that happened to Kleet." Then Spencer's head snapped up, "Billy! The ecto!"

Billy quickly collected himself, "Oh, right!"

But the shifting form of the monster swiftly changed from an uncontrollable mess to its solid and intimidating state again. It let out a low growl. Billy whimpered and struck a chord again. Nothing happened. Billy struck another chord. Then another. Then he played a quick arrangement. Nothing. No mysterious ghostly shock wave.

The beast grinned, exposing it's rows of sharp icy teeth and fixated on Billy.

"Uh oh…" Billy squeaked before throwing the guitar on his shoulder again and dodging a spike thrown by the snowman. Billy shrieked as it threw more and charged at him. He took off full flight towards the woods. The beast thundered past the kids after him.

"Billy!" Spencer shouted but it was no good. It was already becoming too hard to see them as they disappeared through the darkness and snowfall. Spencer began to panic.

"What do we do?!" Shanilla asked.

Spencer didn't outright respond but he hobbled over to the remains of the rental booth and grabbed a new, yet slightly damaged, snowboard.

Rajeev grabbed his arm before he could take off. "You're not seriously going after them are you?!"

Spencer shook him off, "Of course I am!" He planted his good foot on the board and used his block of ice one to push off through the snow. Rajeev and Shanilla shared a look before grabbing new boards and following him.

Pushing through the snow using a foot encased in ice was difficult but Spencer somehow managed. No freaking way was he going to lose that idiot again. It appeared that Billy and the snowman followed the same path that they'd come out from earlier. They went back past Kleet, past the clearing, and tore a new path through the woods, going further and further back, even passing the old rusted abandoned ski lift Spencer had seen earlier. It wasn't hard to follow as the path of destruction was clear, but the further they went the more difficult the terrain became. What was left of any of the paths or slopes were overgrown, had fallen trees in the way, were narrow, and steep. Some areas curved past steep embankments leading to not-so-pleasant looking drops down cliffs. Spencer recognized this area as he'd recorded it on their first gondola trip going up the mountain. From that view, it had looked beautiful, but from here it was utterly terrifying. No wonder this area was closed off to the public.

In the distance, they heard Billy shrieking, the pounding of the snowmans' footfalls chasing him, and the cracking of branches and trees. Spencer picked up his pace, his breath coming out in huge white puffs and the cold air burning his lungs. The cold made his face and ears numb, which was currently a good thing as wayward twigs and branches whipped at his face.

"There!" Shanilla suddenly shouted and pointed.

Just ahead Spencer saw a flurry of movement. Something whipping around the trees in the air followed by a huge lumbering mass tearing through each tree without a problem. Spencer hurried towards them.

A high low whistle sounded in the distance from the opposite direction.

Spencer gasped, his head snapping back to look where it came from because it sure as hell didn't come from the monster. He slowed down just enough to try and look into the woods but it was too dark.

He shook his head and pushed forward, making it to the top of a steep embankment. Billy and the monster were just below. The snowman hung off a large tree, like a gorilla, while Billy dodged spikes thrown at him. Then the ghost caught sight of Spencer. The creature followed Billy's line of sight and Spencer's stomach dropped when it spotted him.

Shh-

A bolt of ice flung out from the monsters' hand and struck Spencer's board. He went flying.

-iit…

Spencer fell down the embankment. He rolled and tumbled, trying to grab hold of anything, but everything was too icy. For a brief second, he saw Billy zooming after him right before the ghost was shot out of the air with an icy blast and sent tumbling after him. Spencer didn't have long to think about it before he was thrown from the embankment and off the cliff.

Someone screamed. He didn't know if it was himself or someone else. The air was sucked out of his lungs and the wind rushed in his ears, drowning out all other sounds as he plummeted.

Wind stung his exposed skin and he screwed his eyes shut. He didn't want to watch as the ground grew closer and closer. In the very few precious seconds he had left the only thing that crossed his mind was death. What was going to happen when he died? Not that it mattered to think about it now. He'd find out shortly.

Then there was a brief moment of weightlessness again as something grabbed his coat. He was still falling but spun around as something coiled around him. G-forces pressed on his body as he swiftly came to a stop. He held on for dear life as his insides tried to catch up with his outsides.

When his lungs cooperated again he sucked in as much air as he could and let it out in a shaky breath. Pulling back he saw Billy had caught him only a few feet from the ground. They shared uneasy grins, both very aware of how close they'd come to having Spencer join Billy in the ghostly afterlife. Before Spencer could thank him there came a thunderous sound. They looked up.

The last thing Spencer saw before Billy covered over him was an avalanche of snow come crashing down on top of them.

* * *

On the slope above, Rajeev and Shanilla stared in shock at the place where their friends fell. The monster loomed on that spot, its back turned to them and staring down into the abyss after it had thrown an avalanche of snow after the pair; supposedly burying them in their new graves.

Shanilla's hands were drawn over her mouth, having failed to stifle her scream when she watched her friends fall, and her eyes glassy with tears. Rajeev stood paralyzed with horror.

Then the snowman slowly turned to glance over one hulking shoulder at them.

Rajeev's fight or flight finally sunk in as he grabbed his sisters' arm and darted into the woods.


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer's faded in and out of consciousness, events passing by him in a hazy blur. He felt a heavy weight bearing down on him. Billy shielding him as best he could but the cold prevented him from shapeshifting into a more protective form. It was cold. So very cold. Billy digging him out of the snow, shouting at him to stay awake. The sensation of being moved, but not by himself, he couldn't feel his legs by that point. Then frigid darkness.

. . .

Spencer jolted, sucking in a breath through his teeth. The cold air filling his lungs brought back some semblance of consciousness. Everything was cold. His arms and legs felt heavy with the dull ache of numbness. The exposed skin of his face stung. His clothes were wet, even frozen in some places. He felt the slight sensation of leaning up against something and the way it blocked the wind. But at the same time, it was almost as if it wasn't really there.

Spencer tried prying his eyes open but they were frozen shut. His hands were numb but he managed to draw one aching arm back to scrub at his face.

"Spence?"

Billy? Spencer scrubbed the crusted ice from his eyelids and blinked through the blurriness. Billy was carrying him piggyback, hovering no more than a foot off the ground. The ghost looked paler than usual if that were at all possible. He looked tired and sagged either from Spencer's weight or pure exhaustion. Or both. Little ghostly icicles clung to his face, hair, and clothes. He shivered violently. Billy also no longer had his coat but after a moment Spencer's brain caught up with him and he realized he was now wearing it on top of his own. The material must have become visible again once it wasn't on Billy. That or the ghost somehow managed to make it tangible on his own. Billy's guitar was also strapped to Spencer's back. They were outside in the snow. Somewhere in the woods in an area that didn't look familiar. It was still dark out but the ambient light reflecting off the snow provided a small amount of visibility.

"Uhhhg," Spencer groaned, his breath coming out in great puffs of white clouds, "What happen'?"

"We fell and you passed out," Billy answered through chattering teeth.

"Passed out? How long have I been out?"

"Not long."

"Where are we going?"

Billy jutted his head forward. Spencer followed the line of sight up the path they were on. It went up a slope about one hundred yards or so to where a small, half snow buried abandoned cabin sat. The structural integrity looked shoddy at best and one of the walls must have started to give way as it leaned to one side, but it at least had a door and all the windows were boarded up.

"What about the lodge?"

"Too far," Billy grunted as he continued forward.

Billy must really not be feeling well. All of his responses were short and curt. No sarcasm, no joking, no made up on the spot bro themed nicknames. Every now and then he'd sag more under Spencer's weight until he was forced to hoist himself up. Twice he flinched and whipped around as if he'd been stung by something. He made no comment on it and Spencer was too tired to ask.

A whistle echoed through the woods. One high, one low.

Billys' whipped around towards the direction it came from and he shuddered.

For a few moments, everything went silent.

"Monster?" Spencer finally managed to mutter.

"Probably? But I haven't seen it since...ya know."

"...Hunting us?"

A chill ran up Billy's body and he quickly turned back around, hurrying towards the dilapidated structure.

Spencer buried his face in Billy's shoulder to hide from the wind. There was something he was forgetting...something important he needed to ask...what was it?

"Shit!" Billy spat and dove behind a large snow-covered bush.

Spencer snorted, remembering their conversation back at the lodge. "Language," he teased in his drowsy state.

"Shh!"

Spencer frowned, his mind clearing a little. He looked up. In the distance, something was moving through the trees. Something big. Not quite as bulky as the monster they had seen, but something certainly taller and thicker than the average human. It walked with a long, slow gait and swinging arms. Two small dots glowed from its head like a pair of eyes. The dreariness within Spencer swiftly drained away.

"That looks like-"

"Shh!" Billy hissed again.

Spencer clamped his mouth shut and watched. It passed by, heading down the mountain, and disappeared into the wintery fog. But the next sight made Spencer's blood turn about as cold as the rest of him. Another tall, hulking figure followed after the first. Then another, and another. About a dozen of them walked by. Billy and Spencer watched them go, frozen in silent terror.

"There's more of them…?" Spencer gaped, his voice barely above a whisper.

He could feel Billy trembling more than before yet the ghost said nothing. They watched the beasts until they disappeared against the hazy atmosphere of the snowfall.

"I was wrong...It wasn't your ecto. There really are abominable snowmen?"

Billy tensed and his face contorted as if he were thinking. "I-I dunno. That other one, when I touched it, it didn't feel like- It-it didn't look like-"

"It looks like they're going down the mountain." Spencer interrupted as the realization dawned on him. "Do you think they're headed for the lodge? We need to go after them."

"Not yet," Billy said in a whisper.

"Why not?! What happened to Kleet is going to happen to everyone else, or worse, unless we stop it!"

"Because we're both about to be frozen brosicles! We need to get warmed up first," Billy quietly snapped. He didn't wait for a response before he staggered back up, making sure the creatures were gone and started heading up to the cabin.

Spencer bit back his argument. As worried as he was about his classmates he was so cold. So very cold, he couldn't think straight and he just wanted to go back to sleep. The idea of warming up and taking a nap sounded nice...Maybe Shanilla and Rajeev could-

Spencer's head snapped up, "Where are Shanilla and Rajeev?!"

"Shh! Duder, keep your voice down!" Billy hissed, "And I don't know. Last I saw them they were at the top of the cliff before we fell down it. Let's hope they got away..."

Spencer frowned but kept quiet. He was worried but he begrudgingly realized that Billy was right. Spencer felt like an ice cube and Billy struggled to even move. He was in no shape for another ghost fight.

When they reached the deteriorating structure Billy gracelessly kicked open the flimsy door. It wasn't hard and the thing flew off its rusted hinges. The interior was disappointingly small, mainly due to the partially collapsed roof. It wasn't going to be as insulated as they'd hoped. But the fireplace was still intact, albeit spilling out snow. Billy set Spencer down next to the fireplace and replaced the door. Then he got work clearing away the snow from the chimney entrance as well as flying up through it to make sure it was clear. His movements were much slower and more strained than usual. It took longer than it normally would have. Billy didn't even fly unless he had to and instead opted for walking around like a normal person, which was odd. When the snow was cleared he gathered stray pieces of wood and shoved them in the fireplace.

Spencer, suddenly feeling useless, frowned at his frozen foot. Trying to break away the ice wouldn't do any good and they had nothing to try and melt it with. Billy likely couldn't get his ghost fire to work. Even if it did work it wasn't a guarantee it'd melt the ice. Theoretically, it should have, or at least Spencer assumed it would given all other weird supernatural and ghostliness guidelines that broke the known laws of physics.

He was hard-pressed to think more on it as his body shook involuntarily. He removed Billy's guitar from his back and gently set it down beside him. He peeled his sopping gloves off of his numb hands with his teeth. His fingers were beet red and felt swollen. They refused to move right but he managed to dig out his phone from his pocket. It still worked. But there was no signal, so he couldn't contact anyone. Spencer sighed. Of course. Rule 101 of horror movies always told him that cell phones became useless when monsters and other supernatural horrors lurked about. Why should life, his life specifically, be any different. He put the useless device back in his pocket before unzipping his jacket enough to stuff his hands under his armpits and curling his knees up to his chest.

Spencer glanced at the guitar. It was covered in snow and water droplets. He grimaced in sympathy, knowing how Billy usually obsessed over his instruments. This one was ruined by the exposure to the weather alone. It would no longer be able to play anything well. At this point, its only use would be as a weapon. That would be IF Billy could get his powers to work.

Spencer sighed, resting his head on his knees, tilting it just enough so he could watch Billy fidgeting with the pile of old, damp wood in the chimney, trying to use a pair of rocks he'd found under the broken floorboards as a flint. But the ghost shivered so hard that he missed hitting the rocks together almost every time, instead hitting a finger instead causing him to yelp and curse. It was a good effort but...

"That's not gonna work," Spencer said.

"What are you talking about? 'Course it will, I saw it done on TV."

"Yeah, which means it wasn't real, dumb-dumb. Hollywood magic. You need some kinda...striker and a flint rock, or somethin'..."

Billy snorted, "How do you know?"

"Dad mentioned it once. Camping trip."

Billy rolled his eyes, striking the rocks together once more, but instead one just broke, splintering off in his hands. Billy yelped and dropped them. Then he growled and glared at the damp wood as if willing it to burn.

Spencer sighed and tugged at the sleeve of Billy's coat layered over his own. It was bulky and not very comfortable, but it was helping to keep him warm. Spencer was surprised Billy had put it on him given the ghosts struggle with the cold and the constant complaining. Though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Billy cared about him enough to put his gigantic ego aside and that was a subject they stopped skirting around long ago.

"Freezing to death probably sucks…But it's probably better than getting impaled by ice, huh? Who knows...maybe I'll get ghostly ice powers or something?" Spencer forced a chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood. They both knew the joke was in poor taste and the humor died in the air.

Billy was still. Staring at the damp wood with a distant, serious expression for several long moments. A small yet still noticeable shiver went up his spine, but not from the cold. Billy glared at the wood with a firmer resolve. He held out a hand towards the fireplace and squeezed his eyes shut. His jaw locked as he hummed in concentration. Spencer watched him and for a moment thought it might actually work. That Billy might actually get it to light. . .

Nothing happened.

Billy let out an exhausted breath and frowned mournfully at the ceiling. Then he grabbed the useless rocks he'd been fiddling with earlier and flung them into the fireplace with a shout. A blue ghostly spark ignited on impact and a flame burst up from the wood, causing Billy to fall backward. The flame roared up a moment before dying down into a small blue fire, flickering on the slowly drying wood.

The pair blinked at the fire, then at each other.

Spencer scooted closer to the fire, hovering his hands near it for warmth. "This should literally be impossible but right now I'm not complaining."

Yeah...ghost stuff didn't give a damn about physics. Billy huddled up next to him, wrapping an arm around him for warmth.

Spencer stayed quiet for a while, just trying to feel the heat again. But there was something he needed to say. "Next time you say you feel like somethings' wrong I'll listen...If there is a next time."

Billy let out a breathy chuckle. "Hope there isn't a next time. But, you know, because we hopefully don't encounter any more monsters or ghosts. Not cuz of...the other thing."

Spencer gave a sobering nod. Horror enthusiast curiosity be damned, he was sick and tired of this shit. He really hoped that the only supernatural happenings during his next movie were only of the 'special effects' variety. There was a difference between suffering for your art and nearly dying once per month because of it. Spencer let out a big yawn. This small moment of reprieve made him realize his entire body aches with exhaustion. Chilled and soaked to the bone and beaten down from physically exerting himself earlier made him want nothing more than to go to sleep. He curled up on himself again, resting his head on his knees. Billy muttered something but he didn't hear what. He didn't care to ask him to repeat himself. If he could just get a few minutes. . .

. . . . .

"Spence!" Billy shouted. Something gently whacked the back of his head.

Spencer jolted and blinked his eyes open. "Huh?"

"I said don't fall asleep! Didn't you hear me?"

Spencer blinked at him and shook his head. Billy had been talking to him?

The ghost gave him a scrutinizing look. "Isn't there a saying or something to not fall asleep in the cold?" His expression changed to confusion, "Or is it the heat?"

Spencer stretched himself out and scrubbed his face. He wanted to sleep but Billy was right. Geeze, if he had a dime for every time Billy has been right lately... Everything's been flipped on its head ever since The Incident.

"Cold," Spencer answered. "And you're right. Let's keep talking till we're ready to move again, that'll keep me up."

Billy's face scrunched up in a pout, "Talk about what?"

"Uhh…" Good question...Ah, of course! What else to keep Billy talking other than topics about himself. "Your ghost powers. That sound thing you did earlier was epic! How'd you do it? I mean I swore you were gonna start swinging at it like you did back at the hospital. What made you think to play a note?"

The ghost suddenly looked insecure instead of the beaming smile followed by gloating he'd expected. Whoops. Billy shrugged. "I dunno...It just came naturally?"

Spencer's paused a moment. "Maybe another ghost thing? Just...doing stuff that feels right or getting the heebie-jeebies when there's another supernatural force around. Like a sixth sense."

Billy hummed in thought.

"We should probably try to confirm that. Let's go visit Frank if we make it out alive...get some more information about all this ghost stuff."

Though they could always fly back as ghosts if Spencer died but he knew that was the last thing Billy wanted to hear. Joking or not.

Billy groaned, "Do we have to?"

"What could it hurt?"

"Us, if he's grumpy."

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Don't be dramatic. We'll be fine."

"You keep saying that, yet here we are."

Billy didn't mean it in an offensive way but all the same Spencer felt a pang of guilt ring through him. Twice now he'd said they'd be fine doing something and twice he'd been wrong, nearly getting himself and his friends killed. He frowned and looked at the small fire as it flickered with uncertainty.

Billy sighed and pulled him in closer. "You feeling better?" Spencer noted that Billy looked less icy than before and his voice no longer shook.

"Yeah. Starting to feel my hands and feet again." Spencer wiggled his fingers. They started to tingle despite also stinging and throbbing from the cold. Then he glared at his ice block foot. "Well...cept for this one. The ice doesn't look like it's melting, huh?"

Billy frowned and hovered a hand over it as if to-

Thud thud thud.

Both boys jumped and looked back at the door.

Silence.

Neither of them moved. Spencer didn't even dare to breathe. Their eyes locked, each filled with fear and waiting to see who would make the next move, them or it.

A loud crack erupted from the fire.

Billy grabbed his guitar and leapt up, hovering in the air. Spencer scootched back until his back was against the wall. The door slammed open and a dark figure loomed in the entryway. A fresh wave of cold air swept into the room, making both boys shiver. The figure knelt down and stepped in. It was one of the snowmen.

Tall, imposing, but not as thick as the one they'd been attacked by. Spencer's brow furrowed. This one also lacked any of the icicles that the other one had. It also didn't have a mouth. No one moved for a beat and the thing just stared at them.

"What…?" Spencer muttered.

Billy let out a shout as he swung the guitar at the creature. Unfortunately, it wasn't on fire or endowed with weird ghostly energy so the snowman simply blocked the attack with one thick arm, snatching it from Billy and tossing it to the side. Billy whimpered and fell back onto his butt. The creature took a step forward. Billy yelped and scooted back until he was next to Spencer.

Two more snowmen entered the small broken cabin, standing on either side of the first. One of them was holstering a limp body over its shoulder. Spencer stared closer at the body and gasped when he recognized it.

"Billy, look! It's Kleet! He's-he's unfrozen!" Spencer said.

"YOU TWO!" A voice shouted from among the snowmen.

The boys screamed.

A figure phased into view in front of them. It was a man, probably in his late 20's to early 30's, dressed in a skiing outfit accompanied by a set of skis attached to his feet. Only he was hovering off the ground and his body was see-through.

Spencer's eyes blew wide open. "A ghost!"

Billy yelped and coiled around Spencer like a snake.

"What did you do to my snowman?!" The ghost shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Billy.

Billy blinked at him, "I-what?!"

"Wait, your snowman?" Spencer asked.

"Yes! MY snowman!" He barked.

Spencer and Billy looked at each other, then back at the ghost.

"I think everyone should stay calm and we should talk…" Spencer cautiously said.

Spencer explained their situation and how they ended up here to the ghost, who they learned was named Rudolph 'Ruddy' Klay. Spencer elbowed Billy in the ribs when he snickered at the name 'Rudolph'. Last thing they needed was another pissed off ghost.

Ruddy told them about how he died in a skiing accident while trespassing on restricted slopes years ago. His body was never found and as a result, he felt stuck here. So while his ghost is still in the realm of the living he found a way to scare off other trespassers so they didn't suffer the same fate as him. Unlike Billy, the cold doesn't seem to bother Ruddy. In fact, most of his powers revolve around snow and ice and cold. He created the snowmen using ectoplasmic manipulation. The snowmen patrol the restricted slopes and scare off anyone who tries to trespass which is where the 'sasquatch' stories came from. But the snowmen themselves were actually gentle giants. They never hurt anyone, only scare them off. Well...not counting the one he and his friends had been attacked by.

Rudolph could also absorb snow and water, which he demonstrated by absorbing the water soaked in Spencer's clothes to help the kid warm up. He also absorbed the ice block on his foot! Much to Spencer's relief. It took a little while until he could feel that foot again. Thankfully, because of weird ghost powers, he hadn't gotten frostbite. Ruddy described it as a sort of stasis or cryogenic freezing. Which is why Kleet was still alive and hadn't frozen to death. Ruddy's snowmen had discovered Kleet in the woods and brought him to the ghost who unfroze him too. The unconscious jock was currently laying to the side of the small cabin. The freezing power wasn't a power Ruddy himself possessed. He said he could sense his ectoplasm was tainted with something else when he had examined Kleets' ice block. So he went looking for the source. Namely Billy.

"So that snowman that attacked us was once one of yours?"

Ruddy nodded, "Yeah. But it's been contaminated with his ecto!" He pointed at Billy who looked offended.

"So I was right! Kind of…" Spencer said. "The abominable snowmen DO exist. Billy's snowball got contaminated when he sneezed, then when one of your snowmen came around to scare us he threw it at the snowman. It must have mixed with your ecto and transformed it into a monster!"

"That would explain it. As far as ghost logic goes, anyway..." Ruddy sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Now the thing is running amok! It's head for the populated lodgings and cabins. I sent some of my snowmen to try and hold it back but they won't be able to for long. That thing is too strong."

Spencer filled with dread. "Oh no...my classmates and my friends are there!"

Ruddy pointed a finger at Billy again. "I need you to help me fix this and stop that thing!"

Billy swatted the finger away, "Why me?! My powers aren't working in this cold. Besides, it's your creature!"

"But it's contaminated with BOTH of our ectoplasm. We both need to be there to extract it." Ruddy answered.

"Makes sense," Spencer agreed, "...as far as ghost logic goes…"

Ruddy sighed and crossed his arms, "If you're feeling better then we gotta get moving. That thing will reach the cabins soon. My snowmen can't hold it off for long.

Spencer stood uneasily, Billy looping an arm around his torso to help steady him. A little stiff and tingly but he was better. More importantly, he was warm. Billy let him go when he could stand by himself. Spencer nodded at Ruddy.

"But I can't function in the cold…" Billy whined.

Rudolph huffed at him, "You should be able to function just fine if you don't concentrate on the cold. Think of it as white noise, filter it to the background and you won't even notice."

"Easier said than done," Billy growled.

Ruddy let out an exaggerated sigh. Then he spit some ecto into his hand and held it out towards Billy. "Swallow this. It'll temporarily give you my tolerance to the cold."

"Bleh! Hell no I'm not ingesting your nasty-"

Before Billy could get another work out Rudolph grabbed Billy by the hair, causing him to let out a yelp. When his mouth was open Ruddy shoved the ecto into Billy's mouth and clamped a hand over his jaw. Billy struggled but eventually had to swallow. Ruddy smirked and let him go.

Billy shot back and gagged, "Uhg! Gross!"

Spencer repressed a snicker. He remembered how gross it felt when he accidentally swallowed Billy's ectoplasm once before. He glanced over to the prone body on the floor at the other side of the dilapidated cabin. "What about Kleet?"

Ruddy waved a hand dismissively, "This snowman will look after him." Said snowman sitting by Kleet gave a little wave. "When it's safe I'll have it bring him down the mountain. If he wakes up it'll just knock him out again."

Spencer winced in sympathy but he understood. Didn't need Kleet freaking out and running off into the woods. Spencer handed Billy his jacket back. "Ready when you are."

Billy groaned, taking the jacket back and putting it on. "I don't think I'll ever be ready. But, yet again, we don't really have a choice...Do we?"

"Not unless you consider leaving our friends and the rest of the class behind to be turned into popsicles a choice."

Billy grumbled, clearing having had considered it but as that was a bit morally grey he conceded. He slung his guitar on his back and nodded at Ruddy. The ski ghost smirked and filed out of the cabin with the snowmen. Billy and Spencer followed.

Ruddy and Billy flew back to the lodge. Billy carried Spencer and, as Ruddy had said, was relatively unaffected by the cold. He celebrated by doing loop-de-loops in the air to which Spencer had to make him stop. Being airborne not long after nearly plummeting to his death not two hours before made him uneasy enough. Let alone the nausea it caused.

The lumbering snowmen were slower as they walked along but as Ruddy said plenty more had already gone ahead. What they hadn't expected was what they were greeted by. Spencer would call it 'carnage' although that wasn't completely accurate.

Although they were no longer in the forest they entered a new kind of forest. One of ice. Huge, jagged pieces stuck up from the ground in all directions, increasing in number the closer they got to the lodge. Worst of all, when they arrived there weren't just the jagged spikes. Huge blocks of ice and encased inside were the chaperones who'd gone to look for Kleet earlier as well as a few unfortunate bystanders and skiers who happened to be out too late or were returning to their cabins. And, much to Spencer's horror, huge slabs of ice like glaciers stuck to the outer walls of the lodge, freezing doors and windows shut.

In front of the lodge, a fight ensued between the vicious mutated snowman and Ruddy's gentler ones. Clearly the big guy was winning. It roared, swinging its massive arms around to hit the lankier ones and reduce them to piles of useless snow or impaling them with icy spikes. To their credit, most of the smaller snowmen just regenerated shortly after but they were too slow.

Ruddy, Billy, and Spencer crouched behind a hill of snow, just out of sight. Spencer had a thought and whipped out his phone. Signal! Yes! He quickly dialed Shanillas' cell. She picked up only after one ring answering frantically.

"Spencer?!"

"Shanilla!"

She let out a heavily relieved sigh. "Oh thank God, you're alive! Are you ok?! What happened? Where are you?!"

"Is that Spencer? Is Billy there too? Are they ok?" Spencer heard Rajeev shouting in the background.

"We're ok. We're outside the lodge. But we can't get in."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy you're both ok. We didn't know if you guys survived or if you were ok! I was so scared! All we thought to do was run back to the lodge where we thought it was safe but-"

"Shanilla we can talk about that later!" Spencer interrupted. "The monster snowman is outside attacking everything."

"We know. The doors and windows are frozen shut. There's a few windows on the second floor that can open but it's a long drop down. Everyone inside is still ok, they think it's only an avalanche but they're freaking out. But they're too scared to go looking. Rajeev and I saw the snowman through a window but...Spencer, I could have sworn I saw more than one of them!"

"Yeah, long story but there's a lot of them. But only the big guy is the bad one."

"What?"

"It has to do with another ghost, he's helping us. Look, I don't have time to explain so I just need you guys to trust me."

"Ok…"

Spencer peered over the mound to the fight below. The monster was winning. Ruddy's snowmen weren't enough to hold it back and soon it would go back to attacking the lodge.

Billy's head whipped over to Ruddy. "So...how exactly do you plan on 'grabbing' the ecto from that?" he asked, voice laced with criticism although it shook from fear.

"At the center of each of my snowmen is a ball of ice. Acts kinda like a heart, it's the central point that keeps them together. That's where the ectoplasm is focused. We need a way of restraining or destabilizing it long enough for us to grab the heart. Question is how…"

Spencer perked up, "Billy, that sound vibration thing you did earlier!"

Ruddy blinked at him, "Huh?"

"When we were attacked earlier Billy struck a chord on his guitar. It made some kind of ghostly sound vibration go out and the body of the monster started shifting like it was having trouble keeping itself together. It wasn't for very long but maybe it'll last long enough for you two to grab the heart and extract the ecto."

Ruddy cocked an eyebrow at Billy, "You can do that?"

Billy snorted, "Course I can!" Then he gave Spencer a wary look.

Spencer shuffled closer to him and whispered, "Don't worry, I know you can do it. Just follow your gut like last time."

Billy nodded, though looked unconvinced.

Spencer put the phone back up to his ear, "Shanilla, we're gonna try and stop this thing. You and Raj make sure the other students are preoccupied."

"That won't be a problem," She said. "Most of them are hiding anyway. You guys be careful..."

"We'll try…" Spencer hung up the call and stuffed his phone in his pocket before turning to the two ghosts. "What's the plan?

"Simple. My snowmen will keep it occupied, Billy does his little...strummy sound thingy, then we swoop in while it's disoriented and extract the heart."

"Strummy sound thing," Billy muttered with indignation under his breath.

"What do I do?" Spencer asked.

Ruddy's face contorted for a moment in thought, as if he hadn't expected the question. "Stay put," he finally said. "Too dangerous for you to be out there."

"But I-"

"No!" Ruddy snapped and jabbed a finger in his face. "Two ghosts is more than enough trouble here, we don't need to add a third. Just stay out of the way." He didn't give Spencer a chance to argue back before leaping up over the snow mound and into the fray.

Spencer scoffed, "As if." He went to get up but felt a hand push him back down. He blinked back at Billy.

"He's right. You got thrown off a cliff last time, Bro Grylls. Stay put."

For once Spencer was at a loss for words. There was no self-assured pretentious gloating in Billy's tone the way he'd brag about himself in the past. If it wasn't for the bro-pun and slight waver of fear in his voice Spencer wouldn't have been entirely sure it was even Billy who said it. Billy took off after Rubby before Spencer could think of what to say.

Spencer stood, incredulous, as he watched the two ghosts bolt towards the flurry of ice and snow and beating. He started walking towards the battle. Stopped. Apprehension coiled in his gut. He sank back down behind the snow mound.

What could he do? Last time he got thrown off a cliff. The time before that he'd gotten his friends and cousin hit with weird ghostly goop, causing them to disappear. The time waaay before that he'd run off to retrieve a stupid box, making Billy come save him from a ghost and a bunch of dolls.

Spencer shrunk down, watching the pair come upon the violent battle, Ruddy with a clear purpose and Billy brandishing his guitar.

There was nothing Spencer could do but watch.


End file.
